South Park Conjunctive Use Project

The Park County Land & Water Trust Fund was originally established to address resource threats imposed by the South Park Conjunctive Use Project (SPCUP). This project would have pumped and stored groundwater from an aquifer in South Park for controlled releases into Tarryall Creek. Ultimately this water would have been used to augment Aurora’s municipal water supply (100 miles downstream). Local springs, lakes, wetlands, and household wells may have been dewatered as the aquifer was depleted and the water table declined.

For more than a decade, sales tax revenues were used to fund a legal and scientific defense against the proposed project. After successfully defeating SPCUP, a portion of the annual Trust Fund balance is held in reserve as a deterrent against future municipal groundwater pumping (conjunctive use) projects in Park County.